Just Not Fair
by skamusic4
Summary: In 'All Falls Down', Eli mentions how he used to get bullied when he was nine. Naturally, I felt the need to elaborate. So, here's my take on Eli's tormented grade-school days.
1. Chapter 1

_**Just Not Fair**_

_**A Degrassi Fanfiction**_

_Chapter One_

Eli sat on the grimy bus, watching a drop of rain slither down the window. Usually, he hated the bus. It smelled like sweat, contained none of his friends, and he couldn't hear anything but the other kids' shouts and laughs. Usually, the bus was the last place he'd want to be…but not today.

It was Monday, and his ninth birthday had been on the previous Saturday. He knew that money was somewhat tight lately, but his family had done the best they could. His gifts included a new computer game, a pair of roller-blades, and a brand new silver MP3 player.

The small gadget meant the world to him. He hadn't quite decided what kind of music he liked most yet, but he loved music nonetheless. All of his family put their favorite songs on, making it a quite well-rounded MP3 player. His dad favored grunge and alternative, and put artists such as Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins and a bunch more that Eli didn't know on it. His mother added all of her favorite disco hits, his aunt Heather added some country, his cousin Chelsea added some mainstream, and his cousin Greg put all kinds of obscure punk and techno on the MP3.

Eli didn't care what he was listening to at that point, so long as he was listening to something. Sometimes he would feel like turning it to his dad's music, sometimes to Greg's. It depended what kind of mood he was in.

The best part about the MP3 player was that he hadn't been expecting it. He knew his parents didn't have a whole lot of money since his mom lost her job, and he'd already expected not to get much from them. But they'd pulled some money together just for him, to make sure that he had the best birthday ever. And it had worked.

Now he sat on the loud, smelly bus, but he didn't mind, because he could pop on his headphones and tune everybody out. Music, regardless of the genre, was a sort of safe haven to the young boy. It was consistent, absolute, and nobody could take it away from him.

Or so he thought.

He'd only gotten through two songs when he looked up to see Ralf Westel and his friends looming over him. Ralf was a fifth grader, and Eli was only in third. Ralf was almost five whole feet tall, while Eli stood at a tiny three foot ten. And most importantly, Ralf had three friends with him, and Eli was alone.

Eli pretended not to notice the infamous Ralf and went back to minding his own business. He pressed the little plus button and grinned as the volume escalated. But even through his headphones, he heard Ralf's voice.

"What you got there, _Eli_?" He wondered how the older kid knew his name. He glanced up, trying not to show his light traces of fear.

"An MP3 player," he said quietly. The four fifth graders laughed, and before Eli could defend himself, Ralf snatched his most prized possession.

"It's not even real!" He snickered. The headphones had slid of Eli's head, and were not pressed into the back of his neck as Ralf tugged the chord.

"Yes it is," he protested. "It plays music."

"It doesn't have the apple on it though! It's a fake MP3 player!"

"No it's not," Eli argued, annoyed that they'd say such a thing. If it played music, it was real. He'd even seen the box.

"What is he listening to on his _fake_ MP3 player?" One of the other older boys asked, sounding amused. Ralf glanced at the screen, and started howling with laughter again.

"He listens to girl music!" Ralf laughed, showing the display to his friends, causing the headphones to be ripped out of the socket. "Hillary Duff!" Eli hadn't realized that when Ralf had grabbed his MP3 player, he'd hit a button, causing the song to change to one of his cousin Chelsea's bubbly pop songs.

"Give that back," Eli said, trying to take it from the bully's hand. But Ralf refused, and a devilish glint flashed through his eyes.

"You're parents probably didn't even pay a lot of money for that," he challenged.

"Yes they did!"

"How much?"

"They paid….a _hundred_ _dollars_!" Everybody's eyes widened, but they quickly saw threw his lie. _Nobody_ had a hundred dollars, much less Eli's family. It was just an unthinkable amount. Ralf's eyes narrowed, angry that he'd been lied to.

"You really want it?" He asked, and Eli nodded furiously. "Go get it!" Before Eli could even comprehend what was happening, Ralf chucked his absolute favorite gift out the bus window behind him.

"No!" He cried as Ralf waved his empty hand in front of his face, taunting.

"That's what you get," one of the other boys snorted as tears welled up in Eli's eyes. But by then, they had already arrived at school, and the four fifth graders hopped in line, eager to be the first ones off the bus.

Eli felt like his world had fallen apart. He'd been the happiest kid in the whole world when he'd unwrapped that gift, and now it was gone. He felt a wave of guilt and shame wash over him, wondering what his parents would think of him. He was so irresponsible, and prone to accidents.

He rushed off the bus, mind still reeling, and hurried down the sidewalk, searching for his MP3 player. It still had some hope, right?

_There_, he saw a hint of something sitting in the road and ran right to it.

The tears that had gathered in his eyes began to spill over when he saw what was left of his music player. Someone must have run over it, seeing as the screen was shattered and there were wires hanging out. He pressed the 'on' button, but nothing happened. It was definitely dead.

He couldn't believe what had happened. Four older, stronger boys had ganged up on him for no reason and ruined the thing that meant the most to him. Not only that, but they'd accused it of being fake, when it obviously wasn't.

_Why would they do something like that?_ He wondered. _What made them decide to do that?_

"It's just not fair," he said out loud, scurrying out of the road as a car approached, carrying the shattered remains.

He didn't realize, at the time, that this was just the start of it all.

**AN: Chapters will usually be longer and more eventful, I just thought that this was a good spot to end. It's sort of a challenge, trying to think back to what it was like to be nine. Was it good? Bad? Mediocre? Let me know what you think. :]**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter Two_

**AN: So, this is sort of short, too, but it's something. To say things have been hectic lately is an understatement. :/**

Eli stumbled into his house with his head down, the way it had been all day. He dropped his backpack in the middle of the living room and sulked into the kitchen to get a juice box.

"Eli! Honey! How was your day?" His mom asked, shuffling into the room with a huge smile.

"Bad," he muttered, sipping the watery juice that he didn't even like.

"Aw, do you want to tell me about it?" His mother took his shoulders in her hands and stared into his eyes. His lower lip trembled, but he knew he had to tell his mom about what had happened.

"Th-the big kids, they br-broke m-my MP3 player," he managed before bursting into tears. Mrs. Goldsworthy wrapped her arms around her son.

"Shhhh, it's okay," she soothed, stroking his hair. But that just made Eli cry harder.

"It was my favorite present!" He blubbered.

"It's all right, Honey, we can get you a new one." His eyes lit up a little.

"Really?"

"Sure. Daddy gets paid at the end of the week; we can get it then. And we can get the same exact one, if that's what you'd like." Eli sniffled and nodded. His mom released him and began cooking a grilled cheese.

"So who were these bullies who wrecked your music player?" She asked.

"Big kids. _Fifth_ graders."

"What were their names?" He shrugged.

"Ralf Westel and his friends." Mrs. Goldsworthy shook her head, disgusted.

"Well Mrs. Westel is going to get a very articulate phone call." Eli's eyes widened. He wasn't sure what 'articulate' meant, but that didn't matter.

"No! Don't call his mom! They'll make fun of me even more!"

"Of course I'm going to call his mother," she scoffed. "Nobody makes fun of my baby and gets away with it." He groaned, humiliated, as she handed him his grilled cheese and began flipping through the phonebook. The next day would be _such_ a delight.

Eli's dad drove him to school the next day on his way to work upon hearing of the bus incident, and his mom offered to pick him up afterwards. But the bus wasn't the only place Ralf could find Eli.

"Hey shrimp!"

_Oh no_, Eli thought. _Not at recess!_ Recess was everybody's favorite part of the day. The big fifth graders couldn't ruin _recess_ for him, that was just unthinkable!

"How come the big kids are looking at you?" His best friend, Ronnie, asked. His chestnut eyes were wide and fearful.

"They smashed my MP3 player," Eli explained. "And my mommy called his mom."

"You have an MP3 player?"

"I _had_ one."

"They're coming over here!" Ronnie exclaimed. "I have to pee. Bye Eli!" He took off at a speed that made Marion Jones look like a…turtle. Which left Eli on his own as the bullies trudged over to him.

"You got me grounded for four days," Ralf spat.

"I t-told my mom not to c-call yours," Eli said feebly.

"But she did." There was a menacing tone in Ralf's voice, one that nobody could miss. The teacher for Eli's class had gone inside to use the bathroom, and Ralf and his friends hadn't come out with a teacher. Most of the kids in the class were too busy having fun to notice what was going down.

"You broke my favorite present though!" Ralf's dark eyes went deadly (well, as deadly as a fifth grader can look).

"You want to go?" Eli blinked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Go wh—" Before he could defend himself, the bully shoved him back, where his left shoulder blade smashed into the monkey bars behind him.

"Ow," he whimpered, trying to rub where it hurt, but his arm wasn't long enough. Ralf wound up for another push, but Eli swiftly hopped up and bolted out of there.

He sprinted across the parking lot, his hair whipping around his face. It looked like it might rain, and he absently noticed his class getting ready to go inside. He couldn't worry about that now, though, because Ralf was right behind him. He could hear several sets of loud, heavy footsteps quickly approaching him.

Suddenly, a huge weight slammed into him, and he crashed to the pavement. Ralf was on top of him, pinning him down so that his chin was pressed into the concrete.

"Get off of me!"

"You tell you're mom about this," he warned. "And there will be more where this came from." It sounded like Ralf watched too many PG-13 movies. Eli felt blood welling up on his scuffed chin, and his elbows and knees were probably banged up too, not to mention the bruise that was forming on his shoulder blade.

Ralf cupped his big, meaty hands around Eli's bony shoulders and forced him up, into a standing position. Only to push him back down again, and laugh as he landed on his butt.

His teeth rattled together from the impact, and it took him a while to get up. The fifth graders scurried away, and Eli was left wondering what he'd ever done wrong.

"Eli! Sweetie! What happened to you're face?"

"I fell at recess," Eli lied, his head down. That's what he'd told his teacher, too, and the nurse. He said he fell off the monkey bars. Nobody had noticed him getting chased and thrown down, and he was too scared to tell the truth.

"Aww, you poor thing. You've got to be more careful!" He nodded solemnly.

"Okay Mom." Mrs. Goldsworthy glanced at her son.

"Are you okay? Did those mean boys give you any more trouble?" He shook his head.

"No. I wasn't on the bus, remember?" She shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, about that. See, I have to go into the office tomorrow, so you'll have to take the bus home."

"What? No! I'll walk."

"That's ridiculous, Eli. We live eleven miles away. Something could happen to you." He crossed his arms indignantly.

"I'm not going on the bus. Can't Grammy pick me up?" Grammy was his grandma on his dad's side, who lived just down the street.

"Grammy's busy, sweetheart. Just sit somewhere away from them, and if they try to talk to you, don't listen." Because _that_ would work, Eli thought bitterly, but he nodded anyway. He knew he couldn't win the argument.

He spent the night wondering how he could get out of the fateful bus ride. He considered riding his bike, but he knew his mom wouldn't approve. None of his friends lived in his neighborhood, so that was out of the question.

He was at a point of desperation. He felt that he needed to do _something_, anything. He couldn't just sit there, day after day, and let himself get beat up.

That's when the idea came to him: he could fake being sick! Groan a few times, cough some, and talk through his nose and there was no way his mom would suspect him as a fraud.

He thought that maybe, if he stayed clear of the Ralf for a little bit, he'd leave him alone. And then, when he got his new MP3 player, he'd let him listen to it in peace. And he wouldn't hurt him anymore.

He crossed his fingers and shuffled down the steps, putting on his best sick face.


End file.
